Following the adoption of "Called to Common Mission" at the Episcopal Church General Convention in Denver recently, a conference of Lutherans and Episcopalians in Virginia examined the question "Where do we go from here?"
"Called to Common Mission" (CCM) is an agreement that brings the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church in the USA (ECUSA) into full communion with each other. This does not mean that the two organisations will merge, but it should mean close partnership in local ministry and sharing of clergy.
The conference at Virginia Theological Seminary was sponsored by the Anglican-Lutheran Society under the theme "Living into Full Communion." More than 50 people took part in the sessions, including several Roman Catholics.
The Revd Dr William Petersen, professor of church history at an Episcopal theological seminary in New York, encouraged Episcopal and Lutheran congregations to "be intentional about worshipping together four or five times a year." He reminded participants that liturgy has a service aspect that should lead to practical ways of serving people in the community, something that might be done more effectively by the two churches working together.
"Unity in Christ must not be a pious dream but a practical reality," Dr Petersen said as he encouraged frank and honest ecumenical conversations. He saw Christian education, especially among adults, as providing an opportunity for members of both traditions to share and learn together.
One of the more controversial aspects of CCM, among some Lutherans, was the application of the doctrine of apostolic succession, which Anglicans see as a sign of unity going back to the days of the early Christian church. Many Lutheran churches around the world already have this "historical episcopate", which will now be received by ELCA.
Dr Michael Root, professor of theology at a Lutheran Seminary in Ohio, pointed out how up until the 1970s the goal of ecumenical dialogue between the two churches had been a merger of church structures. Today, however, it is "unity in reconciled diversity" where churches keep their identities but share in ministry, sacraments, witness and service. CCM should not been seen as the end of the process, he warned.
On the final day of the conference, the Revd Paul Lee, ecumenical officer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Washington, spoke about the Lutheran-Roman Catholic and the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogues, commenting that "the fact that we've been able to get together for serious dialogue in the past 30 years, after our centuries of separation and often hostility, is truly remarkable." He added that there was a need to "go beyond stereotypes of each other."
The Anglican-Lutheran Society was founded in England in 1984 and has seen its American membership grow significantly in recent years. Other important agreements between Anglican and Lutheran churches include the Meissen Agreement in 1991 between the Church of England and the Evangelical (Lutheran, Reformed and United) Churches in Germany, and the 1996 Porvoo Agreement between the British and Irish Anglican Churches and the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran Churches.
The Anglican Lutheran Society's next meeting will be in September 2001 in Ratzeburg, Germany.